MAGANES: Partido na Pangasinan?

Governor Amado T. Espino Jr. held an organizational meeting of what is s supposedly a political overhaul under his administration, that is, the launching of his Partido na Pangasinan.

This was his answer to speculations that he and his namesake son were rejected by the Liberal Party in his attempt to be included in the administration candidates for the 2016 elections. Espino, in a press statement, denied that he approached the Liberal Party for membership.

Many Pangasinenses are asking. Why Partido na Pangasinan? Is it registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and accredited by Commission on Election (Comelec) as a local political party? What are the objectives of the said organization ? The way I look at it, Partido na Pangasinan was organized in haste just in time for the filing of certificates of candidacy of those running for political positions in 2016 election. Why the haste?

It will be recalled that Espino bolted Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) last July 2014 after its provincial chairman Mark Cojuangco announced his intention to run as governor of Pangasinan. That announcement triggered the other members of the party to resign invoking that they were not consulted on Cojuangco’s action.

However, Cojuangco said Espino had been aware of his plan as it was their consensus and agreement that after Espino’s term, one of the Pangasinan’s congressmen in their group will succeed him. Espino, who will be on his last term on June 30, 2016, denied there was such agreement.

Now, can Partido na Pangasinan match with the political force of NPC and Biskeg na Pangasinan, whic is also chaired by Cojuangco?

If Partido na Pangasinan will not be accredited by Comelec, then its members who do not belong to other political parties will be running as independent candidates and that will be a disadvantage on their part.

*******
Last October 8, the first Pangasinan Environmental Summit was conducted at the Sison Auditorium, which was attended by local government units’ officials, officials from DENR and DILG, environmentalist groups, etc. It was an event that called for the sectoral leaders to protect and preserve the environment and natural resources. To dramatize the support of the cause, a billboard “Pangako ng Pagkakaisa Para sa Kalikasan.” was signed by the summit’s attendees.

DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leonas was the keynote speaker and many of the attendees raised their eyebrows when he said, “In Pangasinan, the government and its people have chosen to care, to act and to be responsible for their environment.”

Leonas, apparently was not aware of the illegal black sand mining that took place in Lingayen. The mountain of 9,588 cubic meters black sand in Sabangan, Lingayen is now the subject of confiscation by his agency.

To me, the “summit” was used as cover up of the environmental issues hounding the Espino administration. There were environmental degradation that took place in Pangasinan like the massive tree cutting in Mangatarem, the illegal black sand mining, illegal quarrying, etc. and yet they professed of their admiration on how the provincial administration care for the environment. DENR has lost track of these issues.

I had goose bumps when Espino uttered these words:“As a leader, it is my dream that the children of our children will get a chance to see the beauty of the environment.” What beauty is he talking about? He has destroyed the beauty of the Lingayen Gulf at the eco-tourism area. He took away the natural barriers (black sand) at the beach . Then, what beauty is there to see? Can our children have that chance to still see the beauty of that part of Lingayen Gulf?

By the way, why is it that the Provincial Environmental Code not tackled in the summit? It should have been included as one of the topics for the Pangasinenses to know its contents.

With or without the Environmental Summit, Pangasinenses are already aware of what are the environmental issues taking place in Pangasinan. Of his eight years as a governor, why was only now that Espino conducted this kind of activity in the midst of the issue on “illegal black sand mining”?